Asuma Sarutobi (猿飛 アスマ, Sarutobi Asuma) is the leader of Team 10 and son of Hiruzen Sarutobi. He had a falling out with his father when he was younger, and briefly left Konohagakure in protest. The two had not completely reconciled by the time of the Hiruzen's death. Asuma is usually seen smoking a cigarette, but will temporarily drop the habit when something is bothering him, such as when his father died. Among all his students, Asuma shares a particularly close relationship with Shikamaru Nara, and the two often play shogi or go together. Asuma frequently appears alongside Kurenai Yuhi, leading many characters to assume the two are a couple. Both deny this and promptly try to change the subject whenever it is brought up. During Part II of the series, however, Kurenai is revealed to be pregnant with Asuma's child, making their relationship clear. In battle, Asuma wields trench knives that can be infused with chakra. When infused with his wind-based chakra, Asuma can extend the blades' length and easily pierce through rock. After Asuma is killed by Hidan, a member of the criminal organization Akatsuki, these knuckles fall into Shikamaru's possession, and he uses them to defeat Hidan and avenge Asuma. Asuma's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Jūrōta Kosugi, and he is voiced by Doug Erholtz in the English adaptation.
Kakashi Hatake (はたけ カカシ, Hatake Kakashi) - where Kakashi is literally Japanese for "scarecrow" - is the leader of Team 7 and the sensei of Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura. Kishimoto had originally intended for Kakashi to be introduced earlier in the series than he actually was, and created him as an easygoing person that would be able to keep the members of Team 7 in check. Kakashi treats his leadership position with a detached manner, and is consistently late to meetings as a result. In a gaiden on Kakashi's past, this is shown to be the result of an incident in which he witnessed the death of one of his teammates, Obito Uchiha, who gave Kakashi his Sharingan eye and imparted many of his habits, including his tardiness. With Obito's Sharingan, Kakashi has amassed a reputation as a skilled and powerful ninja, earning the moniker "Copy Ninja Kakashi" (コピー忍者のカカシ, Kopī Ninja no Kakashi). Although he mentors all three members of Team 7 early in the series, he concentrates on training Sasuke as the series continues, teaching him his Chidori technique; however, he is unable to prevent Sasuke from leaving the village to seek Orochimaru for greater power. Kakashi's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kazuhiko Inoue, and his English voice actor is Dave Wittenberg.
Hinata Hyuga (日向 ヒナタ, Hyūga Hinata) is a member of Team 8 who suffers from a lack of self-confidence throughout the series. She is always reluctant to speak her mind or to do something that might antagonize another character, causing her difficulties whenever she is on a mission. This results in her effective expulsion from the Hyuga clan even though she is the eldest daughter of the clan's leader and thus its heiress. Hinata's inability to stand up for herself caused her father to disown her at a young age, leaving her in the care of her teacher, Kurenai Yuhi. Soon after her introduction, Hinata begins training to become stronger, both to overcome her own weaknesses and to prove her worth to her father. Her efforts begin to prove successful towards the end of Part I, as her father takes a greater interest in her training.
Though Hinata's training has in large part been to prove herself, she also trains to try and win the attention of the series protagonist Naruto Uzumaki. Inspired by Naruto's confidence and determination, Hinata becomes infatuated with Naruto to the extent that she immediately blushes or faints upon seeing him. However, as the series progresses, she goes out of her way to help him. While Hinata is hesitant to openly admit her feelings for him, most characters are aware of her feelings. In the anime, Hinata's attempts to impress Naruto result in her creation of a new ability capable of instantly blocking or attacking anything in her extended field of vision. During Part II, Hinata finally admits her feelings to Naruto while protecting him from Pain; as yet, there has been no follow up to her confession. Her seiyū in the Japanese anime is Nana Mizuki, and her English voice actor is Stephanie Sheh.
Choji Akimichi (秋道 チョウジ, Akimichi Chōji) is a member of Team 10 who is typified by his deep love for food to the extent that he always has a snack with him during the series. Though his habit of always eating gives him a relatively large appearance, Choji insists he is not fat, instead using explanations like being "big-boned". If someone refers to him as fat, Choji instantly becomes hostile and increases his resolve to battle. Shikamaru Nara has never found an issue with Choji's weight, instead choosing to look upon Choji's inner strength. Because of this, Choji regards him as his best friend, stating he would willingly give his life to defend Shikamaru. In battle, Choji can increase the size of his body to improve the amount of damage his strikes deal upon impact. His seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kentaro Ito and his English voice actor is Robbie Rist.
Kiba Inuzuka (犬塚 キバ, Inuzuka Kiba) is a member of Team 8 characterized by a number of dog-like traits such as being very protective of his teammates and super sensitive and extremely keen senses such as smell . Most apparent of his connection to dogs is the constant presence of his ninja dog (忍犬, ninken), Akamaru. Kiba is fiercely loyal to Akamaru, unwilling to abandon him and putting himself in harm's way for Akamaru's sake. In exchange for Kiba's devotion, Akamaru fights with him in battle; he uses his heightened senses to Kiba's advantage, and helps to double-team opponents with volleys of physical attacks. Since Akamaru is naturally better equipped for combat, Kiba usually modifies his own abilities at the start of a battle, growing claws and traveling on all four limbs to increase his speed. He can also drastically increase his sense of smell, and by the second half of the series he can use it to track things dogs cannot. Kiba's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Kōsuke Toriumi, and his English voice actor is Kyle Hebert.
Gaara (我愛羅) is the youngest of the three siblings. He was created by Kishimoto as a foil to Naruto Uzumaki, with a similar background yet a highly divergent personality. Before Gaara was even born, his father intended to make him a military weapon for Sunagakure by sealing the One-Tailed Shukaku (一尾の守鶴, Ichibi no Shukaku), a powerful and dangerous tailed beast, inside him. Similar to Naruto, Gaara was tormented by his fellow villagers for being the host of a tailed beast. After one of his few remaining relatives tried to kill him, Gaara developed a sadistic and withdrawn personality, killing others to affirm the value of his existence. His battle with Naruto during the invasion of Konoha changes this mentality; as a result, he becomes more willing to help others as the purpose for his existence, and he succeeds his deceased father as Sunagakure's Kazekage during Part II. Gaara's seiyū in the Japanese anime is Akira Ishida, and his English voice actor is Liam O'Brien.
Might Guy (マイト・ガイ, Maito Gai) is the leader of Team Guy, and dedicates most of his time to only one of his students, Rock Lee. Because of Guy's dedication to him, Lee has modeled himself in his master's image, mimicking Guy's distinctive green jumpsuit and shiny bowl haircut. Lee has also adopted many of Guy's mannerisms, including his "My Rules" philosophy, which involves setting tough self-imposed penalties for failure in the belief that the punishment will make him stronger. Series creator Masashi Kishimoto likens Guy's passionate personality to that of a physical education teacher he had in junior high school, but notes that the teacher was not a model for Guy's character.
In battle, Guy specializes in physical attacks, which he constantly tries to teach to Lee. While Lee is forced to concentrate on physical attacks due to his inability to use other types of techniques, Guy deliberately chooses not to use techniques other than physical attacks. When not teaching Lee a new ability, Guy is usually found in competition with his self-proclaimed rival, Kakashi Hatake. Throughout the series, Kakashi has never displayed a particular interest in their rivalry, which only further motivates Guy to defeat Kakashi and his "coolness". In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Masashi Ebara, and his English voice actor is Skip Stellrecht.
Rock Lee (ロック・リー, Rokku Rī) is a member of Team Guy and the favorite student of team leader Might Guy. In the ninja academy, Rock Lee was unable to use ninjutsu or genjutsu techniques, but his persistence impressed Guy. Guy spends much of his free time training with Lee to help him accomplish his dream of becoming a respected ninja by using only taijutsu. Lee has adopted several of Guy's habits because of this, such as his wardrobe and his perseverance. Guy has taught him a number of powerful, even forbidden, techniques. Because some of these techniques, such as the ability to open the eight chakra gates, can pose a severe risk to Lee's body, he is only permitted to use them to protect something or someone dear to him.In the Japanese anime and manga, he always utilizes honorifics such as "san" and "kun". In the English adaptations, he never uses contractions. In the Japanese anime, his seiyū is Yoichi Masukawa, and his voice actor is Brian Donovan in English.
Sasuke Uchiha (うちは サスケ, Uchiha Sasuke) is one of the members of Team 7. He was created to be a rival to Naruto, as well as a, "cool genius", which Kishimoto believed was an integral part of an ideal rivalry. He is one of the few remaining members of the Uchiha clan along with his brother, Itachi Uchiha, who killed the rest of their family. Due to this, Sasuke's sole desire is to kill his brother, and he develops a cold and withdrawn personality. His interactions with his fellow teammates, especially Naruto Uzumaki, make him focus less on revenge at the start of the series. During an encounter with his brother in Part I, Sasuke is easily beaten, which leads him to leave the village to seek more power from the criminal Orochimaru. His teammates' attempts to recover him from Orochimaru forms a major component of the Part II plot. In the Japanese anime, Sasuke's seiyū is Noriaki Sugiyama, and his English voice actor is Yuri Lowenthal.
Naruto (NARUTO—ナルト—, romanized as NARUTO) is an ongoing Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. The plot tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who constantly searches for recognition and aspires to become a Hokage, the ninja in his village that is acknowledged as the leader and the strongest of all. The series is based on a one-shot comic by Kishimoto that was published in the August 1997 issue of Akamaru Jump.
The manga was first published by Shueisha in 1999 in the 43rd issue of Japan's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine. Currently, the manga is still being serialized with fifty-one tankōbon volumes released so far. The manga was later adapted into an anime, which was produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex. It premiered across Japan on the terrestrial TV Tokyo network and the anime satellite television network Animax on October 3, 2002. The first series lasted 220 episodes, while Naruto: Shippuden, a sequel to the original series, has been airing since February 15, 2007. In addition to the anime series, Studio Pierrot has developed six movies for the series and several original video animations (OVAs). Other types of merchandise include light novels, video games and trading cards developed by several companies.
Viz Media has licensed the manga and anime for North American production. Viz has been publishing the series in their Shonen Jump magazine, and as well as the indidividual volumes. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and later in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. The films, as well as most OVAs from the series, have also been released by Viz, with the first film premiering in cinemas. The first DVD volume of Naruto: Shippuden was released by Viz in North America on September 29, 2009, and it started broadcast on Disney XD in October of the same year.
The manga has sold over 100 million copies in Japan. Serialized in Viz's Shonen Jump magazine, Naruto has become one of the company's best-selling manga series. The English adaptation of the series has also appeared in the USA Today Booklist several times and volume 11 won the Quil Award in 2006. Reviewers from the series have praised the balance between fighting and comedy scenes, as well as the characters' personalities, but have criticized it for using standard shōnen plot elements.
